Michael Swift

Michael Swift (born 18 October 1977) is an English former rugby union player. Swift played rugby professionally for 17 years and spent most of his career with Irish provincial team Connacht. He retired from playing in 2015. Though he originally played both as a flanker and a lock, Swift played almost exclusively in the second row later in his career.

At the time of his retirement Swift was the most-capped Connacht player of all time and held the record for appearances in the Celtic League/Pro12. These records were later broken by his long-time Connacht teammate John Muldoon.

Career

Early career Richmond Swift started playing rugby in 1989, while a pupil at the London Oratory School. He represented Middlesex and England U16s during his time at school. His first professional club was Richmond, which he joined at 19 while attending Loughborough University. He primarily played as a flanker. Swift did not feature for the team in the 1997–98 Premiership, but made two appearances in the 1997–98 European Challenge Cup. In the 1998–99 Premiership, Swift made six appearances for the team, four of these coming as starts.

The club had been bought by financial markets trader and Monaco tax exile Ashley Levett, who turned the club into one of the first professional rugby union teams in England. Levitt bought in big names to push the club up the leagues, such as Ben Clarke from Bath Rugby, the first £1 million signing. Despite the crowds and revenues from competition, Levett was continually financing the team, and he eventually put the club in administration in March 1999. The professional side of Richmond was eventually merged into London Irish, but during the period of uncertainty following the onset of administration, a number of players left the club.

Leeds Tykes Following the administration of Richmond, Swift joined another English team, this time Leeds Tykes. Swift featured for Leeds in the 1999–2000 Second Division as the Tykes finished second to Rotherham by a margin of four points, missing out on promotion. Swift also played for the team in that season's Tetley's Bitter Cup, scoring two tries in two games.

Connacht Early seasons (2000–2003) Swift was recruited by his former coach at Richmond, John Kingston, to join the Connacht-based club Galwegians in June 2000. He made his first appearance for the Connacht provincial team against Ulster in the same year, while still playing for Galwegians in the All-Ireland League. Swift also played for Connacht in the 2000–01 European Challenge Cup, making his European debut for the province on 7 October 2000 as a replacement against Béziers at home, before starting in both the return match on 13 January 2001 and the game against Neath the following week. In the 2001–02 Challenge Cup, Swift played three games, featuring as a replacement against Sale Sharks, before starting against Rugby Roma and Narbonne. That year's Celtic League saw a change in the competition's format. Following the formation of regional rugby teams in Wales, the competition was organised as a round-robin league, with each team playing the other once at home and once away. Under this new 22-game structure, Swift featured 17 times for Connacht, starting on all but two of these occasions, as the province finished ninth. Swift made 12 appearances in the 2009–10 Celtic League, starting in nine of these games and scoring a try.

Eric Elwood as coach (2010–2013) The 2010–11 season saw Swift's former teammate Eric Elwood take over as coach, replacing the outgoing Bradley. The 2010–11 Celtic League saw two teams from Italy introduced to the competition, bringing the number of teams back up to twelve. Swift started 19 games and scored a try as Elwood set about improving the team's league form. Domestically, the Celtic League was renamed, becoming the Pro12, due to the previous season's introduction of Italian teams.

Early in the season, Swift reached another milestone in becoming the first player to make 200 appearances for Connacht, when he played against Edinburgh on 16 September 2011. He made a total of 18 appearances in the 2011–12 Pro12, starting each of the games as Connacht finished eighth. Swift made his first appearance at the very top level of European club rugby on 11 November 2011, when he started against Harlequins in the 2011–12 Heineken Cup, a game which Connacht lost 25–17. He also started against Toulouse both home and away, but did not feature in either of the games against Bath, with Connacht losing on each occasion. Swift started against on 20 January 2012, however, with Connacht managing an upset, beating Harlequins 9–8 in the Sportsground, preventing the Premiership club from topping the group, and knocking them down into the Challenge Cup.

Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Swift was given the honorary role of Club Captain by the province in recognition of his service, with teammate Gavin Duffy continuing as captain on the field. Swift made 19 appearances in the 2012–13 Pro12, with just two of these coming as a replacement. Swift started four of the team's six games, but missed both games against Biarritz.

Final seasons (2013–2015) Swift signed a contract with Connacht for the 2013–14 season, taking his service at the province up to May 2014. Ahead of his fourteenth season with the province, Swift was named one of the team's joint captains, and started out the season sharing the captaincy with both Gavin Duffy and John Muldoon. After a poor run of form culminating in a 43–10 defeat against Edinburgh, Craig Clarke was made Connacht's team captain with Swift and the others continuing to "lead off the field." Swift made 18 appearances in the 2013–14 Pro12, with half of these coming as starts. He also scored tries against Edinburgh and Newport Gwent Dragons, as Connacht ultimately finished tenth. Swift did not feature in the return match against Toulouse, but came on as a replacement in the second match against Zebre, before starting the final group game against Saracens. Swift made his first appearance of the season on 26 September 2014 against Glasgow Warriors in the league, and featured in three 2014–15 Rugby Challenge Cup games, but Swift more often featured for the Connacht Eagles during the course of the year.